Feeding attachment for bag-filling machines



' T. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR BAG FILLING MACHINES 30, 1923 8 sheet she't 1 INV EN TOR f MW ATTORNEY T. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT r-oa BAG FILLING MACHINES 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30, 1925 INVEN TOR A TTOR NE Y 1-. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR-BAG FILLING MACHINES 8 Sheets-Shee't 5 Filed Jan. 30, 1923 IN VENTOR' A TTORNE Y Feb, 17. I925. 1,526,488 l T. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR BAG FILLING MACHINES I Filed Jan. 30. 1923 8 SheetS-Shet 4 I I A? r v 8/ I a n 6 L 5 E IN "MI". P l hi "mu l l 6 I, l I Lul ""II I I .1 l1 I l I ,/6'J 9,

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1'. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR BAG FILLING IIACHINES Filed Jan. 30. 1923 8 Sheet-She'e't 5 IN V EN TOR f. M BY ATTORNEY s S heet-She'et e.

Feb. 17. 1925.

T. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR BAG FILLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 30, 1923 R Y m w w m a m A m u I 1 g: r W a a s o. i I 8 d 7 c fl////////f//////// V 6 W a a q, R w W M: m

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. T. ALLATT "51mm ATTACHMENT r011 BAG FILLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 30, 1923 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 IN V EN TOR A TTORNE 'r. ALLATT FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR BAG FILLING MACHINES a 8 Sheet-She'e't 8 Filed Jan. 30, 1923 INVENTOR A TTOYRNEY Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS ALLATT, OF WESTFIEIJD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY IMESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

'IO MILLIE PATENT HOLDING CO. INC.,

NEW YORK.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR BAG-FILLING NIACHINES.

Application filed January 30, 1923.

To all 107mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS ALLATT, a citizen of Great Britain, and resident of \Vestfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Attachments for Bag-Filling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in feeding attachments for bag filling machines, and more particularly to filling devices which measure the material in bulk before delivering it to the receptacles. The invention, as herein described, is especially adapted for use in connection with, although not limited to, producing tea! cartridges, that is to say little bags, each containing tea sufiic-ient for a single brewing.

The main object of the invention is to provide a device of the type mentioned which is entirely automatic in its operation, the only manual work needed being to place the material into a hopper.

lVith these and other objects in View,

" which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,'it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One oi. the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bag filling machine constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section taken through a portion of the hopper and the measuring device connected therewith, on a larger scale; Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 83 of Fig. 2; Fig. 1- is a front elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 and the actuating means associated with the measuring device; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the top portion of the filling machine, on a larger scale; Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a section taken on line Ti' of Fig.

Serial No. 615,889.

1-; Fig. 8 is a central vertical section taken through the means for actuating the agitating mechanism of the filling machine; Fig. 9 i a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the means for actuating the agitating mechanism; Fig. 11.is a front elevation of the device shown in Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a similar elevation, the elements being shown in other positionsi Fig. 13 is a plan view of a bag turning device cooperating with the filling machine; Fig. la is a front elevation of the detail shown in Fig. 13; and Fig. 15 is a side elevation of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 14-, with the elements in other posi tions. i

In the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the frame of the filling machine, it including a base 11, from which rise two standards 12, connected at their upper ends by a horizontally extending frame member 13. Intermediate their ends, the standards 12 support a horizontal frame member, 14;, on which is mounted a hopper 15, having a slanting bottom 16. This bottom is provided with a discharge-nozzle 17 fitting into an opening 18 in a disk 19, the latter being fixed to the frame member 14. In this disk is centrally mounted a spindle 20, fixed to the said disk. Below the disk is rotatably mounted on the spindle 20 a disk-shaped measuring device 21, that is provided on a circle with equidistantly disposed apertures 22 and on its periphery with a corresponding number of: equidistantly disposed notches 23. The measuring disk rests on an enlargement 24 on the spindle 20, said onlargement extending into a recess 25 in a disk 26, that is located below the diskshaped measuring device 21 and is shiftable in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the spindle 20, the latter extending through a boss 27 on the disk 26. The disk 26 is nonrotatable on the said spindle, it being held on the latter by nuts 28, engaging a screw-threaded portion 29 of the spindle. said screw-threads being disposed adjacent the lower end of the said spindle. Adjacent its upper end, the spindle is also screwthreaded, as shown at 30, the said threads being in mesh with a nut 31, abutting against the upper iace oi the disk 19. Thediskshaped measuring member 21 is recessed in its under-face, as shown at 32, and into this recess is, fitted. a. disk, 33, provided with apertures 34, corresponding in number to the apertures 22 in the measuring member 7 The. disk; 33-rotates with the measuring-- d skand-is 21a in alignment therewith.

words, predetermined and variable bulks offiuent material may be delivered to the receptacles. For the purpose ofraising or lowering the disk 33 thenuts 28 are turned in one or the other direction, as required,

The. disks 21 and are rotated together steo b stev so asto brin the aoertures l y l e l extending therethrough nto 'registerlng positions with the nozzle 17 and with an open;

ing 35 in the disk 26. With the opening .is disposed in alignment a chute 36, attached to the disk 26 and provided'at its discharge end with a door 37, that is hinged to thechute at 38, it being held in closing position by a spring 39. For the purpose of imparting motion to, the measuring device, there co-operates with the notches 23 in the disk 21 a spring-pressed pawl 40 on a spindle 41, thelatter'being journaled in arms 42 and 43, which are oscillatable on the upper and-lower ends, respectively, of the spindle 20. To the spindle 41 is fixedly attached an arm 42 en a ed b one end of- M 4 7 O b a connecting rod 43', the other end of which is mounted upon a crank 44 on a shaft-45.

This shaft is journaled'in the base plate 11- andthe frame member 13, andmay be retated in any 'sultable manner, illustrated, there is keyed to the said shaft a bevel gear 46, in mesh with a gear, not;

shown, that is driven by any suitable source of power. F or the purpose of preventing the measuring device from overrui'in ng and also to hold it stationary while the pawl 40 is moved on. its stroke o1f)posite to its feedingstroke, there is fulcrumed at47 to the frame member 14 a dog 48, whichis adapted t0 ng ge the notches 23 in the measuring disk. This dog is made in the form of'a' bell'cranklever, having upon one of its ends a lug 49 for engagement with the said notches and carrying upon its other arm an anti-friction roller 50, co acting with a am 51011 the shaft 45. Aspring 52 holds the roller 50 in continuous contact with the cam 51. The cam 51 is so timed in relation to the crank 44that the lug J 49 is-shifted into a notch 23 in the measuring disk before the pawl 40 moves on its idle stroke, and a disengagementof the lug 49 from a notch 21-3, is caused before the pawl 40 moves on its feeding stroke.

In the case In order tole-ject th-echarges from. the measuring disk, thedisk 19'is provided with an opening 54 in alignment with the opening 35 in. the. disk 26. Through the opening 54fextends plunger 55, carried by ale'ver 56 on a horizontally extendingspindle. 57, the latter being oscillatable in a bearing 58 on thefra mememberli To the spindle 57 is fixed an arm 59, connected by a bar 60 xw-ith-a .lever.6l.- This lever is fulcrumed at 62 to a hanger 63 and has mounted thereon an anti-friction roller 64, with. which co operatesa cam'65-0n the shaft 45. A spring 66'ser-ves to hold the anti-friction rollerin continuous contaetwith its. cam. The camis so timed that, when the measuring disk 21;co mes to a stop,- the plungerjo ismoved onits ejecting stroke, that-is to say down? wards, it movingaipwards out ofla-naa'pertureinthe disk-21 before the-latteris moved through an angulardistancesol as to bring, the next aperture in the series inflalignment with thehole 85 in the disk 26.

Into the hopper extend devicesfor-agitating the material therein. These agitating devicesinclu-de' a phiralit-yof rods 67, inthe-present -case three, which are pivoted at 68 to radial arms 69- o-fasmall'disk 70. These rods aredisposed within the hopper-,- their lower ends being 'slidably arranged 'in apertures 71 in a bracket 72, which is. atta'ched to the bottom of the hopper, the free ends of the rods-extending into the spout 17. The small disk 7 0 is pivoted at 78 to a bracketz74, the latter-being, inturn; pivoted at 75- tooneof the standards 12. On the small diskg70: is rotatably mounted a cap 76, into d-iai netrical-ly-.-oppositeportions of which extend pivot pins 77, carried by a yoke 78 This yoke is fixedvtoa tubularshaft 79,journa1ed in the horizontal framemember 13- andiin a similar member 80, the latter being carried by the stands ards 12 below the frame member 13. The tubular-shaft 79has fixed to it agear; 81,. inmesh with agear 82 on the. shaft. 45. \Vithi-n the tubular shaft '79v is longitudinally slidable a short shaft section 83, the lowerend of' which carries an outwardly projecting lug 84, connected by a link. 85 with a lug 86 on the cap 76. On the tubu-, lar shaft 79- is slidably mounted a collar 87, connected-by ascre w 88withtheshort shaft section 83, said screw extending. through a longitudinal slot 89 in the tubular shaft 79. The collar 87' is providedv with-a peripheral groove 90, in which is seated a strap 91, connected by pins 92 with the fork=shaped end 93 of the lever 61. In a bearing 94 on the frame member 80 and inthe bracket 72 is rotatably mounted a ertieall-y extending shaft 95; This shaft carries abovethe said bracket an enlarge ment 96, to which are fixed downwardly extending agitatingpinsQT, the said pins extending below the said bracket into the spout 17. The shaft 95 has fixed to it above the bearing 94 a lever 98, carrying upon one of its ends an anti-friction roller 99, which is held by a spring 100 in engagement with a cam 101 on the shaft 79. As this last-mentioned sha-ft rotates, the shaft 95 is oscillated, imparting thereby a similar motion to the agitating pins 97. The shaft 79 at the same time rotates the yoke 78, carrying with it the cap 76. The shaft section 83 is moved by the lever 61 up and down in the tubular shaft 79. When moving downwards, it shifts the cap around the pivot pins 77 into the position shown in Fig. 12 of the drawings. As this cap continuously rotates, it acts as a cam on the small disk 70, causing the latter to swing on the pivot 75 of the bracket 74 as long as the cap 76 is in the position shown in Fig. 12 of the drawings, whereby the agitating rods 77 move up and down, thereby agitating the fluent material in the hopper. iVhen the cam permits the lever 61 to raise the short shaft section 83, the cap 76 and small disk are brought into horizontal positions, shown in Fig. 11 of the drawings, in which the agitating rods 67 are kept stationary notwithstanding the rotary motion imparted to the cap 76. The cam 65 is so timed that the agitating rods 67 are moved when an aperture in the measuring disk member 21 is in alignment with the spout 17, they being raised when the said measuring member moves so as to bring the next aperture in the series in alignment with the said spout.

lVith the chute 36 co-operates a bag turning and filling mechanism of the type described in an application for U. S. Letters Patent, filed by Jay Tamassy on August 14, 1922, under Ser. No. 581,828, said application being assigned to the assignee of the present application for Letters Patent. The

7 said mechanism comprises a drum 102, that is moved step by step on a shaft 103 by any suitable mechanism and has mounted thereon equidistantly a plurality of bag supports 104, of which three only are shown herein. Each bag support comprises a pair of spaced arms 105 and 106, the arm 105 being fixed, while the arm 106 is adapted to turn on a horizontal pivot 107 toward the arm 105. The arms 105 and 106 are alike in shape,

' they being substantially U-shaped in trans verse. cross-section, as shown in Fig. 18 of the drawings. The open sides of these arms face one another, the arm 106 having a tendency to swing around its pivot pin toward the arm 105 to facilitate the slipping of a bag over the arms. The bags 108 are placed on the bag supports in inverted positions, as shown in Fig. 14 of the drawings, after which the respective. arms 106 are swung back, by means not shown, into vertical positions, more particularly before a bag sup port arrives in operative relation to the bag turning mechanism.

The bag turning member comprises a Yer-- tically extending tube 109, that is reciprocably mounted upon vertically extending guide rods 110, which are carried by a frame member 111. The transverse cross-section of the tube 109 is such that it iits the arms of a bag support, when the said arms are in their vertical positions, shown in Figs. 13 to 15, inclusive, of the drawings. A suitable mechanism is provided for reciprocating the tube 109 in relation to the drum 102. This mechanism is so timed that the tube 109 is caused to move upon its downward stroke when a bag support, with a bag thereon, is brought into alignment with the said tube, the latter moving upwards and being disengaged from the said bag support before the drum 102 is set into motion to bring the next bag support in the series into registering position with the said tube. To the tube 109 is pivoted at 112 a tray 113, into which the chute 36 is adapted to discharge its contents. This tray is held by a spring 114 against a fixed stop 115, as clearly shown in Fig. 14 of the drawings. The tube 109 carries a lug 116, which is adapted to abut against a lug 117 on the chute closure 37. \Vhen the tube 109 moves upwards, the lug 116 lifts the closure 37, whereby the chute discharges its contents into the tray 113. On the downward movement of the tube, a bag support, with a bag thereon, is in alignment with the said tube, the bottom of the bag being positioned uppermost 011 the support. As now the tube 109 moves downwards, it co-operates with the arms 105 and 106 of the support, engaging the bag and turning the same, the bag, while being turned and at the end of the turning operation, being disposed between the tube and the inner faces of the arms 105 and 106. Simultaneously with the turning operation, the tray 113 is tilted by the stop 115 around its pivot 114, the fluent material therein being discharged into the tube 109 and flowing through the latter into the bag. The filled bag is moved by the tube 109 onto a conveyer 118, shown in Figs. 13 to 15, inclusive, of the drawings.

The operation of this device is as follows: The fluent material, such as tea, is dumped into the hopper 15, from which it flows to the measuring device, the latter measuring the material in bulk before delivering it to the bags. Then an aperture 22 in the measuring disk 21 comes into alignment with the spout 17 of the hopper, the said opening is filled with fluent material, the agitating devices above described causing a flow of the material into the aperture disk. The material in each aperture is dis charged through the opening 35 in the disk 26 intothe-chute, theplunger 5 5 ejecting the material from the; measuring, device.

Each charge in the chute iscausegt t flowinto the tube 109 and fro uthe letter-into a beg, asthe same arrive,outheubag sup-1 po tsj nelignmentawi h th said. u -L The 1. A bag: fillingadevice comprising a hop:

per, a chute receiving nmterial. therefrom,

a- -closure for said chute; a reciprocable tube, a tray pivoted. to sa d-tube lnzoperatlvere- 5 lation to saicLchm-te, mezmsuno mtedon said tube V for openlng 581d: closure whereby.- the charges from said chute flow into ,said tray,

and means for -tilting said, tray,,to.,- ca us e the meterial in;the,-1utter, to he delivered; iose th ube-1 ,A agsfilling d icempri g a 0pper, hu e recei ng let iiel ther r m, a lQsuxe for said hute;- v e ipro a le u a tray piY ted to seid tuhew in opel ative l-et m-to aid ute,.meensi-mounted n said tube, for opening said closure when sai d tuhemoves oeiteupwayd stroke whereby ther -cha gee fliomvsaid ehute flow. into: saidv tray,- and means for tilting said. trey 011; the downward moyement; of said; tube to cause thejmateriel in thentra to he. delivenegtiuto saidiube,

Siguect at New York, in the county of New York,and-Stqteof NeW-Y0rk, this 28th day of September A. D. 1922.

' QMAS LLATT' 

